Clippers coach Doc Rivers during Game 6 of their first-round NBA playoff series against the Warriors at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Friday, April 26, 2019. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

There was once a little team that went from an eccentric owner’s laughingstock rattling around the Sports Arena … to local wannabes who were ignored even while averaging 50 wins in Staples Center … to this season’s surprising start with the remnants of their Chris Paul-Blake Griffin-DeAndre Jordan heyday … to management’s decision to trade leading scorer Tobias Harris and staring guard Avery Bradley, looking like they intended to tank … to their even more surprising 18-9 finish … to upending the Warriors’ world twice … before, at long last, succumbing.

It’s the story of the 2018-19 Clippers, the proudest moment for an NBA team with “Los Angeles” in its name since the Lakers won their last championship in 2010.

Unfortunately for local fans, the Lakers haven’t even been in the playoffs since 2013, so the competition hasn’t been all they would like.

First-round drama is usually forgotten by the second round, but the Clippers’ stand won them something lasting.

Respect.

“What’s been really impressive is that they won while they were rebuilding,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before their Game 6 victory. “When I see the Clippers, I see a team building a foundation, something substantial, something real.

“You can see what they’ve done and how special this team has been – and the remarkable thing is, they traded their best player and got better. Think about that. Tobias Harris was having an All-Star year. …

“It’s a great story. It’s a model for other teams, I think, to try to compete and rebuild at the same time. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

The Clippers’ heroic stand was so brief and the highs so unexpected, there was barely time to scramble onto their bandwagon.

With few giving them a chance, only true believers must have tuned into Game 1 … with few of those staying to the end of the 17-point loss.

By the time they trailed by 31 in the second half of Game 2, the Clippers must have been down to family and friends … before their record-setting comeback.

The Warriors then restored order in Games 3 and 4 in Staples Center … we all thought.

By Game 5 in Oakland, the Warriors were trying to stay focused amid the buildup for their coming matchup with Houston.

Nevertheless, who didn’t think that the Clippers would finally realize they were toast?

Remarkably, once more, the Clippers refused to quit. Within one point with 2:40 left, they outscored the Warriors 12-3, with Lou Williams outscoring Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson combined by an 8-3 margin.

The Warriors finally extinguished the uprising in Game 6, ending the local NBA season. Now for the long-awaited free-agent summer of both teams’ dreams.

Yet to be seen is whether this is a random moment, or if their diverging fortunes and savvy will mean something lasting, with the Lakers’ front office spinning like a top and the Clippers earning raves.

The Clippers’ front office is functioning at a high level as the deadline moves showed, bringing a coveted, unprotected No. 1 pick from Miami.

Unprotected No. 1 picks are rare, making this one a prize, originally sent by Miami to Phoenix for Goran Dragic in 2015, moved to Philadelphia last spring for Mikal Bridges … even if the front office was surely as surprised by the team’s post-deadline surge as everyone else.

“Clippers” now means more than it did a week ago, with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith declaring they have “a better than 50 percent chance” of signing both Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard.

The Lakers, meanwhile, remain holed up with no team official having appeared in public since team president Magic Johnson resigned April 9.

Jeanie Buss is reportedly going forward with GM Rob Pelinka, but has yet to confirm that or let him appear to reassure fans … and free agents … that they’re still the Lakers, proceeding on the same agenda.

As little as Pelinka’s controversy-filled career as an agent prepared him for this, he’s a bright guy who can handle himself in public. Jeanie won’t even trust him with that.

Nor does Pelinka have anything like a free hand, enmeshed in the family-obsessed organization.

Jeanie, who never participated in basketball operations, is now in the meetings with her best friend, Linda Rambis – another Lakers marketing official who is now said to exert influence in basketball ops – and Linda’s husband, Kurt.

Criticized for not looking outside the organization, Jeanie’s answer is More Family. A veritable delegation of Busses went to Philadelphia last week to interview 76ers assistant coach Monty Williams: Jeanie, Jesse Buss, Joey Buss, plus Pelinka, Linda and Kurt Rambis and Tim Harris, yet another Lakers executive who hasn’t participated in basketball ops until now.

Ominously for the Lakers, July 1 is looming with free agents gathering final impressions of who’s dynamic and who’s defunct.

Last week, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who spent recent seasons covering LeBron James in Cleveland, tweeted that LeBron’s trust in the Lakers organization “has been damaged.”

It’s safe to assume it came from James’ people. LeBron denied it – on Instagram. He hasn’t appeared in public since Magic left, either.

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